r/Catholic

Title says it all. I was always under the impression that only the pope and Vatican can excommunicate someone. Can priests and bishops do as well? Also, in the modern world (let’s go itch since Vatican II) how many times has someone or a group been excommunicated?

I ask these questions with no anger, and I'll broach no insults on my grandmother, please.

I'm not catholic, but Grandma was absolutely. (Sicilian American born in the 20's)

She's passed, I have her family bible.

I'm fairly certain she is trying to hide the fact that my father was born out of wedlock.

She, at some point, tore something of of this page in her bible.

I'm just wondering, what would that have looked like? It's some kind of wedding certificate or some such, obviously...

https://preview.redd.it/avh2ntc0dbbh1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79f3c768f3152ef04381d7e4b6edc779148761ba

I’m 25m. Some backstory. I grew up in a mostly Protestant home. The only Catholic family members of mine are my paternal grandfather and his wife. The rest of my family is some sort of Protestant or agnostic, and I was raised Protestant. My paternal grandmother (ex-Catholic) is today along the lines of Pentecostal, and is the strongest-rooted Christian in my family.

I was raised in the covenant church and have spent my whole life praising God in that church. I considered myself very devout in the faith.

The Holy Spirit has been moving in my life, steering me towards becoming Catholic. I am going to be attending OCIA this fall. I’m very excited and I feel like a flame has been lit within me that I never knew existed.

Just so you understand what she thinks, My great aunt and uncle (uncle being my grandma’s brother) are Catholic. My grandma has told me that she has tried witnessing to them regarding faith in Jesus. She feels that they are not saved and is concerned about their salvation.

In the scriptures it says, “if you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father in heaven”. That means I must tell my grandma about me converting to Catholicism. I know she is going to challenge me and tell me that I am wrong for doing this, and try to steer me into what she wants me to do. I have been in prayer about how to respond to this when she inevitably does this to me, and I feel that no matter what I say, it would be the wrong thing or I would misrepresent God. I need some help, any input is helpful.

So the more scripture I read, the more I feel as though my prayers have meant nothing over the last 5 years.

I'm currently struggling to become passionate for God. Truth be told, I have no passion for God. I really don't, and I never thought that I wouldn't. I use to pray frequently the Rosary, the Angelus, and other stuff when I was working. I haven't worked since I got diagnosed with cancer last August, which has given me the opportunity to go to daily mass much more, as well as confession (sometimes everyday), and adoration. The thing is, I've squandered it. All this alone time I've had has been wasted by me. I know it, I hate it, and I want to do better but legitimately cannot force myself to do better.

I think I used to be passionate about God because I used to want to give up the screen time completely, the video games, the laziness, and for a time I did. I really did. I did it multiple times, although I never substituted with anything meaningful. I gave up video games and ultimately found myself doing more, at least more than I used to. But now that I have all the time in the world, I just don't have it in me anymore. I'm back to where I was 8 years ago and it's debilitating.

I usually get thoughts like this after seeing a specific bible verse on a youtube short. The one that I saw shortly before posting this was about lukewarmness. I don't have the fire that I used to have, and maybe that's part of God's plan for me to be patient. I guess now because I'm at rock bottom, GENUINELY rock bottom, which I thought I already hit multiple times before, I don't want to do it anymore. I've tried so many times before to do better and it all now feels like it was pointless and counted for nothing. I feel like all the adoration, the confessions, and the masses weren't actually love for God, but just a performance. I think the same thing now.

Someone, preferably a priest, please tell me I'm just driving myself insane and just being a baby about nothing. And being scrupulous. But also tell me if I really am just a coward and God wants me to jump off of the metaphorical cliff for Him.

Side note: I also know that I every other time I tried to grow, I went to the extremes right off the bat, which did more damage than anything.

Hey y'all,

I'm converting from Judaism. Been attending mass for months, am waiting on OCIA to officially start, and am spending most of my time learning as much as I can.

I like to spend an hour or so every couple of days reading about Canon law. And I'm struggling with FULLY understanding the seal of confession and the concept of excommunication. Especially in how they interact.

I think you'll get what I mean when I ask. Please assume that I AM catholic for the purpose of the question.

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If I go to confession and tell the priest that I stole a Eucharistic host and purposefully desecrated it... My understanding is that's an automatic excommunication that must be resolved by the bishop.

While excommunicated, a priest is required to not let me take the Eucharist. My excommunication is one he doesn't have the authority to absolve. But he only knows about it because of my confession. My understanding is that the seal doesn't just prevent him from sharing, but also from changing his actions based on what was said.

By law, does the excommunication or the seal of confession take priority here?

I'm not sure if I'm missing something about either of these concepts that would clear it up, or of this is such a rarity that it's got its own specific ruling. But I'd love any input to help me understand better.

Thanks y'all! God bless!

i dont remember much about being catholic, ive had communion and confirmation when i was 13, then went non denominational up until i deployed to afghanistan 2010-2011. im divorced, i have a son, but im not in his life, havent been due to my ptsd, its affected relationships, my failed marriage. ive had to fight i was combat arms, i dont regret what ive done in the army im proud of my service.
Now im at a point in my life where im 36, ive slept with many women, but i cant keep a relationship, and i feel nothing basically. i feel corrupted, i dont have a community, i dont have friends i can talk to and im wondering if the catholic church would take me back. i moved to northern Virginia for college, i plan to transfer to georgetown , but i feel unworthy of attending a catholic university as i would feel like a hypocrite, i want to feel honorable again, to potentially have a family again ,any advice ?

Hello I want to start out by saying I was a Protestant converting to Catholic. I started my journey back in January although my husband started a few years ago. I prayed a lot about it and attended my first mass back in January and felt this presence and peace it was amazing I felt at home . I started to research and pray more and continue on the journey . I signed up for OCIA class but it starts in September. Anyways in the mean time we have been attending a few different parishes and doing lots of research. My husband has a lot of hesitation and I’m struggling . He wants to go back to Protestant ( I don’t think he want to really ) but we have read a concerning amount of molesting cases in our states parishes/ dioceses and I’m really starting to get worried. I have 3 young kids. We had my son enrolled in a catholic school next year but ended up pulling him out due to a case back in 2021 they had 2 priest get fired due to it in the parish… is it that bad of a problem?! I can’t help but think satan is trying to keep up away and my husband is taking the bate but it’s a hard argument to make when it could involve my children’s safety ….HELP!?!?

Long story short - over the last week I've fallen into an old addiction that I thought I'd overcome, primarily with regard to adult content. Not like I've indulged a little and felt guilty - it basically took over my life for the last 5 days. I know that my mental and emotional state was severely distorted but I can't use that as an excuse. I occasionally confess a lesser version of this sin but how do I tell the priest that something like this took over my life? This hasn't been an issue in years and suddenly, out of nowhere, something in my brain just flipped and I'm trying to understand why.

For context I've dealt with severe clinical depression and other mental disturbances for most of my life but they've been in remission for the last year. The bad thing is that throughout this I felt nothing. Not just a lack of guilt - a total lack of emotion. Like I was running on autopilot. I haven't been that numb to emotion in years. No emotion, no empathy, no conscience.

The only reason I had the wherewithal to recognize the problem is that for the last 5 months I've gone to weekly confession and I always take time to reflect on the week out of habit.

I don't know how I'm going to talk about it. I'm worried that I may be denied absolution - worried in the sense that I rationally understand that what I've done is wrong and evil, not in the sense that feel scared or emotionally disturbed. I'm still having trouble feeling anything.

How should I go about the confession?

I fell and injured my knee and haven’t been able to work for a week. And if I don’t work I don’t get paid. I have tried everything on my own and is still trusting in God. I just need a miracle right now. What Saint should I ask for intercession and what prayer would be helpful? I have only been Catholic a year. And in that year Satan has come at me at every turn. I love being Catholic but it seems like as soon as I got baptized my life has hit rock bottom. I have been trying to rebuild ever since. I feel like it’s the devil because as soon as I get one step forward I take 10 steps back. When I fell I had just paid off a bill and paid other bills. Last week and this week’s work was for rent. I also was suppose to start a job but couldn’t because I can’t walk for long periods of time. So now I am back at square 1 again stressing over money. It feels like I will be trapped like this forever. I tried 211 Catholic Charities and St Vincent DePaul. No luck. I’m just so depressed.

I’m dealing with a lot of things alone and feel abandoned and scared right now. It would mean a lot for you to pray for me to make it out of this situation, and for things to be restored 🙏🏻💕

Genuine question: as a minor,can I convert without my parents approval? They're kinda like hardcore protestants. Anti-Catholic,if you will. I've asked them about wanting to convert many times already.All attempts were rejected,even threatening to cut off my allowance.I just need some advice. Should I convert as a minor without their approval(If it is allowed by the church) or should I just wait until I turn 18?

i posted this on another subreddit but will post here too:

hi! i’ve been seriously considering becoming catholic for a while and i think i’d like to start attending mass and eventually join the church.
i’m still very much learning and i definitely don’t know everything yet. i’ve been reading about catholicism, but i was wondering what you wish you’d known before joining? are there any books, prayers, traditions or bits of advice you’d recommend for someone completely new?
i’m also a little nervous because i’d probably be attending by myself, so if anyone has any advice on what to expect at mass or how to get involved in parish life i’d really appreciate it.
thank you :)

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,and let perpetual light shine upon them.May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed,through the mercy of God, rest in peace.Amen."

I’m so devastated. My son is getting married in October. I kept reminding him last year to contact our parish as one of the first steps of wedding planning. After asking a few times and receiving noncommittal responses, I started worrying. His fiancé is Catholic so I never gave a second thought about their understanding that marriage is a sacrament, not just a party and license from the government. His fiancés uncle is getting some type of certification or license to perform the ceremony at the same place wheee the reception will be.

I’m devastated and I can’t change their minds, I’ve tried. Is there anything they can do after the fact if, hopefully, they realized they made a mistake?

I’m thinking about converting from atheism to catholic(or any denomination/christianity in general) do yall have any tips for me